LEBANON, Ill. - McKendree University men's volleyball fell to Purdue University Fort Wayne on Wednesday night in a Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association matchup. The Bearcats move to 6-6 overall and 1-4 in the MIVA for the 2023 season.

The Mastodons climbed to a 2-0 lead over the Bearcats as McKendree struggled to find a rhythm offensively. Purdue Fort Wayne took the first two sets 25-22, though the Bearcats would respond with a third set win of 25-23, recording a .308 team hitting percentage, posting 15 kills to Purdue Fort Wayne's 10, and out-blocking the Mastodons 5.0-2.0.

In the fourth set, neither team led by more than one point until Purdue Fort Wayne pulled ahead at 20-17. The Bearcats rallied back, closing the gap to two at 20-18, but the Mastodons would hold onto the three-point lead to take the victory 25-20 and seal the overall win 3-1.

McKendree was led by freshman opposite side hitter Bryce Wetjen who recorded 10 kills and three blocks in just two sets. The middle blockers posted a solid performance for McKendree as freshman Rolen Lively fired a career-high tying eight kills and redshirt senior Daniel Duggan posted seven kills along with a team-high .636 hitting percentage. Sophomore outside hitter Tyler Tripp and opposite side junior Nikos Xydakis each put down a career-high seven kills in the game.

Junior setter Tyler Poulsen delivered 41 assists across the four sets for the Bearcats.

Defensively, the middles took control of the blocking as Duggan and Lively accounted for eight of the Bearcats' 19 blocks. Redshirt junior Kyle Wilson and graduate student libero Francisco Comas collected 13 and 10 digs, respectively, while Xydakis and Tripp notched another career-high in digs at five and four, respectively.

Purdue Fort Wayne improves to 11-4 overall and 2-3 in the MIVA following the win. The Mastodons were led by outside hitter Jon Diedrich with 15 kills on the day.

Coming up, the Bearcats will be on the road at No.10 Loyola Chicago for a 5 p.m. match on Saturday, Feb. 25.